Glauser v. Twilio, Inc. et al
Filing
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ORDER by Judge Hamilton granting in part and denying in part 159 Motion for Taxation of Costs. Costs taxed in the amount of $7,436.03 against Plaintiff. (pjhlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/7/2015)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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BRIAN GLAUSER, individually and on
behalf of all other similarly situated,
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Plaintiff,
No. C 11-2584 PJH
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v.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND
DENYING IN PART MOTION TO
REVIEW TAXATION OF COSTS
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GROUPME, INC.,
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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Defendant.
_______________________________/
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Before the court is plaintiff’s motion to review the taxation of costs. Having read the
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parties’ papers and carefully considered their arguments and the relevant legal authority,
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and good cause appearing, the court hereby GRANTS in part and DENIES in part plaintiff’s
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motion, as follows.
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BACKGROUND
On February 4, 2015, the court entered an order granting defendant’s motion for
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summary judgment. On February 17, 2015, defendant filed a bill of costs, seeking
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reimbursement of $15,178.03. On March 25, 2015, the Clerk of Court reduced defendant’s
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requested costs by a total of $5,835.23, and taxed costs against plaintiff in the amount of
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$9,342.80. Plaintiff filed the present motion on April 1, 2015, seeking three alternative
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forms of relief: (1) a deferral on any costs award until after the resolution of plaintiff’s
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appeal of the summary judgment order, (2) a denial of any costs because “the issues were
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close and difficult and would have a chilling effect on future litigations,” or (3) a further
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reduction of the costs award to exclude any “unsupported and/or unjustified requests.”
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DISCUSSION
A.
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Legal Standard
“Unless a federal statute, these rules, or a court order provides otherwise, costs –
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other than attorney's fees – should be allowed to the prevailing party.” Fed. R. Civ. P.
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54(d). The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted Rule 54(d) as “codif[ying] a venerable
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presumption that prevailing parties are entitled to costs.” Marx v. General Revenue Corp.,
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133 S.Ct. 1166, 1172 (2013); see also Amarel v. Connell, 102 F.3d 1494, 1523 (9th Cir.
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1997). The use of the word “should” in Rule 54(d) “makes clear that the decision whether
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to award costs ultimately lies within the sound discretion of the district court.” Marx, 133
S.Ct. at 1172-73.
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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The losing party has the burden of overcoming the presumption by affirmatively
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showing that the prevailing party is not entitled to costs. See Save Our Valley v. Sound
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Transit, 335 F.3d 932, 944-45 (9th Cir. 2003) (citing Stanley v. University of So. Cal., 178
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F.3d 1069, 1079 (9th Cir. 1999)). Generally, only misconduct “worthy of a penalty,” an
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insignificant or nominal recovery, or the losing party's indigency will suffice. Association of
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Mexican-American Educators v. State of Cal., 231 F.3d 572, 591-92 (9th Cir. 2000) (en
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banc); see also Save Our Valley, 335 F.3d at 945 (Ninth Circuit has in past decisions
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considered factors including the losing party's limited financial resources, misconduct on
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the part of the prevailing party, the importance and complexity of the issues, the merit of
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the plaintiff's case, and the chilling effect on future civil rights litigants of imposing high
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costs).
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If the district court wishes to depart from the presumption in favor of awarding costs,
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it must “specify reasons” for doing so by explaining “why a case is not ‘ordinary’ and why, in
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the circumstances, it would be inappropriate or inequitable to award costs.” Mexican-
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American Educators, 231 F.3d at 591-93. Although a district court must "'specify reasons'
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for its refusal to tax costs to the losing party," a court need not specify reasons for its
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"decision to abide the presumption and tax costs to the losing party." Save Our Valley, 335
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F.3d at 945 (citing Association of Mexican-American Educators, 231 F.3d at 591) (“The
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presumption itself provides all the reason a court needs for awarding costs, and when a
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district court states no reason for awarding costs, [the reviewing court] will assume it acted
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based on that presumption.”).
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District courts may consider a variety of factors in determining whether to exercise
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their discretion to deny costs to the prevailing party. Association of Mexican-American
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Educators, 231 F.3d at 592-93. A court abuses its discretion by awarding costs only in the
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“rare occasion” where “severe injustice will result from an award of costs,” and the court
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does not conclude that the presumption in favor of awarding costs has been rebutted.
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Save Our Valley, 335 F.3d at 945.
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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B.
Legal Analysis
Plaintiff’s first argument is that the court should defer ruling on defendant’s bill of
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costs pending the outcome of plaintiff’s appeal. Plaintiff argues that courts have discretion
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to provide such relief, and notes that four factors are generally considered as part of such
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requests: (1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to
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succeed on the merits, (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay,
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(3) whether issuance of a stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the
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proceeding, and (4) where the public interest lies. See Hilton v. Barunskill, 481 U.S. 770,
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776 (1987).
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While plaintiff need not satisfy all four factors, the court finds it significant that
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plaintiff has not offered any argument whatsoever regarding factor (2). Plaintiff’s opening
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motion glosses over factor (2), and his reply points only to the resources of defendant,
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making no mention of plaintiff’s own financial condition. And while plaintiff’s motion focuses
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on factor (1), the court finds the arguments presented to be unavailing. Plaintiff essentially
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reiterates the arguments raised in opposition to summary judgment, and while those
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arguments may certainly succeed on appeal, his failure to present any new authority
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prevents the court from finding that he has made a “strong showing” that the appeal is likely
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to succeed.
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In reply, plaintiff argues that the court has discretion to order a stay even if the
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Barunskill factors are not satisfied. Even if true, the court finds that plaintiff has not
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presented a sufficient reason to stay the award of costs – whether analyzed under
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Barunskill or under any other discretionary power of the court. For that reason, the court
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declines to defer ruling on defendant’s bill of costs pending appeal.
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Plaintiff’s second argument is that a costs award should be denied altogether. As
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mentioned above, the Ninth Circuit has in past decisions considered factors including the
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losing party's limited financial resources, misconduct on the part of the prevailing party, the
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importance and complexity of the issues, the merit of the plaintiff's case, and the chilling
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effect on future civil rights litigants of imposing high costs.
The court finds that plaintiff has not shown a sufficient basis for departing from the
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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presumption of awarding costs. The primary case cited by plaintiff, Association of Mexican-
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American Educators v. California, is distinguishable for a number of reasons. The case
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involved allegations that California’s teacher-credentialing test had a racially discriminatory
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impact. The defendant prevailed on summary judgment and sought $216,443.67 in costs,
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which the district court denied. The Ninth Circuit first noted that Rule 54 provides for costs
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to be awarded to a prevailing party, but that district courts had the discretion to deny costs,
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as long as it specified the reasons for its refusal, and those reasons were appropriate. The
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Ninth Circuit then noted that it had previously upheld the following reasons for denying
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costs: (1) the losing party's limited financial resources, (2) misconduct on the part of the
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prevailing party, and (3) “the chilling effect of imposing such high costs on future civil rights
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litigants.”
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Applying that framework to its case, the Association of Mexican-American Educators
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court noted that “the record demonstrates that [plaintiff's] resources are limited,” and that
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"divesting district courts of discretion to limit or to refuse such overwhelming costs in
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important, close, but ultimately unsuccessful civil rights cases like this one might have the
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regrettable effect of discouraging potential plaintiffs from bringing such cases at all.”
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Given that plaintiff has offered no evidence showing that his “resources are limited,”
and the fact that the costs sought in this case are not “overwhelming,” the court finds that
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Association of Mexican-American Educators is not applicable in this case. While the
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“chilling effect” of costs awards is a valid concern, plaintiff has shown no reason to apply
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that rationale in a case where plaintiff has offered no evidence of his financial condition.
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Overall, the court finds no basis upon which to depart from the presumption in favor of
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awarding costs. Thus, to the extent that plaintiff seeks a denial of any cost award, his
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motion is denied.
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Thus, the only issue left remaining before the court is the amount of costs to award.
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During the course of the briefing, the parties have narrowed the scope of their dispute,
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such that “the only cost in dispute relates to the expedited delivery charge for the
deposition transcript of Shawn Davis.” Dkt. 163 at 13. In essence, plaintiff argues that the
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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costs of expediting the transcript are not recoverable because any urgency was of
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defendant’s own making, as defendant could have chosen to take Mr. Davis’ deposition
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earlier, or could have chosen to use the rough-draft transcript provided on the same day as
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the deposition.
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Defendant responds by arguing that plaintiff did not disclose his intent to use Mr.
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Davis as an expert until September 28, 2014. While Mr. Davis’ deposition did not occur
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until October 9, plaintiff’s reply brief indicates that the earliest offered date was only two
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days earlier, on October 7. Given that defendant’s reply brief in support of its summary
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judgment motion was due on October 20, it appears that any urgency was the result of
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plaintiff’s late disclosure of Mr. Davis, not the result of defendant’s scheduling. Accordingly,
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the court finds that the costs of expediting Mr. Davis’ deposition transcript were properly
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taxed by the Clerk.
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CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, plaintiff’s motion to review the taxation of costs is
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GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiff’s now-unopposed request to reduce
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exemplification costs from $6,419.50 to $4,542.731 is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s request to
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reduce transcript costs from $2,923.30 to $1,817.94 (i.e., to exclude the costs of expediting
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the Davis transcript) is DENIED. However, the court will correct the clerical error noted by
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both parties, and will reduce the amount of transcript costs by $30, for a total of $2,893.30.
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Thus, costs are awarded to defendant in the amount of $7,436.032.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: May 7, 2015
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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______________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge
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The court notes that this figure is different from the inconsistently-stated figures used
by the parties – defendant’s opposition brief states that the total undisputed exemplification
costs are $4,542.71 (see Dkt. 162 at 18-19), while plaintiff’s reply states that the proper figure
is either $4,572.71 (see Dkt. 163 at 13), or $4,562.73 (Id. at 13, n. 9). Given that plaintiff’s
motion sought to reduce the originally-requested amount of $11,710.73 by $7,168, the court
finds that $4,542.73 is the correct amount of exemplification costs that are not challenged by
plaintiff.
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Again, this number does not match up with the figure submitted in defendant’s
opposition brief, which indicated that an award that included costs of expediting the Davis
transcript would total $7,358.41. The court cannot determine how defendant reached this total.
If the parties reach a different total than that reached by the court, they shall submit a
stipulation with proposed corrections within one week of the date of this order.
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